It’s time for a hard reset on notifications

brisk@aussie.zone to Technology@beehaw.org – 182 points –
It’s time for a hard reset on notifications
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If you're on IOS, the Focus feature is great. I use it primarily for sleep to turn off all notifications except for calls (in case of emergencies). But you can basically configure multiple profiles with different notification settings. Also, whenever I install a new app on my phone, I turn notifications off unless it's a time sensitive app like a messaging app.

My work phone is an iPhone and I love this feature. The moment it's past work hours I no longer get buzzed for any notifications, and I only see direct messages on the home screen

Android's Do Not Disturb feature is also like this. You only get notifications from calls, alarms and apps you specifically allow.

That's interesting and I've never heard of the focus feature (I don't use my phone very much). Where do I find the focus feature?

I was going to try to explain it, but realized I’m not very good at calling menus and such their proper names. So whatever I tell you wouldn’t be very helpful.

https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/turn-a-focus-on-or-off-iph5c3f5b77b/ios

Apple also has a YouTube video that’s about 5 minutes long. The article is probably faster.

I’m not a power user, so I don’t use the majority of features on my phone. I generally set my “do not disturb” at bedtime. It allows calls through from my favorite contact list and my morning alarm. I have friends that set focus time and they love it.

Edit to add to the conversation. I disable all notifications, except for things I really want: calls, FaceTime, texts and to update my food diary if I haven’t done so before 2pm.

When I need to use Uber, I just keep watch on the app. I guess I’m a bit of a psychopath. But when I’m waiting for a car, I like to watch it move on the map. There’s nothing else I would use that would need me to have a notification.

Thanks so much!

Seconding the use of this feature as well. I took it a bit further and took 5 minutes to set up a “Personal” focus mode, active only in the weekends where all work-related apps, mail, calls, etc. cannot send me notifications. In my work there are some serious boundary issues, so this helps me a lot with anxiety and stress.